


A Breath Of Fresh Air

by starrylitme



Category: Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Anxiety, Established Relationship, Kissing, M/M, Picnics, Stress Relief
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-06
Updated: 2018-01-06
Packaged: 2019-02-25 22:34:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13222626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrylitme/pseuds/starrylitme
Summary: Pre-Despair AU. After a stressful exam, Hinata joins Komaeda on a relaxing picnic.(Written for the Danganronpa 2017 Secret Santa over on tumblr.)





	A Breath Of Fresh Air

**Author's Note:**

> Cross-posted from tumblr. Not much else to say here.
> 
> I really want to write something else for Hinut's birthday but I don't think that's going to happen. Despair!
> 
> I do really hope my giftee enjoys this one, though. ;w;

The classroom had become too suffocating, but the air outside wasn’t much better. All around, he could see his peers with their heads low, with shadows under their eyes, moods all the darker against their dark uniforms.

It was a bright and clear day as always, with only a few clouds in the sky. This was the kind of weather kids would laugh and play in.

But for someone like him, it’s...really _seriously_ depressing.

Hinata only sighed, blocking his eyes from the sun, keeping his head down like everyone else and hating himself more for it.

_This is really despairing._

But, _hey_ , at least the exam was done and over with. He still had time before another was on the horizon and the dread began anew.

_Urgh._

In times like this, he could either sit and sulk, or walk and sulk. And his legs were stiff. He himself itched.

Walking it was.

Despite their buildings and their closer surroundings being unremarkable compared to the main, the space where it merged from the untalented grounds to the talented grounds was—alluring in a way he couldn’t fully explain.

Maybe his boyfriend could explain it. His...boyfriend...

So perhaps Hinata had a reason other than the physical ailments to walk today.

He swallowed, heart beating just a bit harder against his chest, palms getting sweatier.

_Ha...ha..._

Hinata’s nervous gaze darted among the trees, the vivid greens, the vibrant flowers, muted browns, lively birds and squirrels—if _his_ luck was really anything to go by...

Maybe _he’d_ be right in the middle of it.

“Ah, Hinata-kun?”

And sure enough.

Komaeda blinked up at him, gray-greens wide, lips in a perfect circle. Then, quickly and easily, Komaeda gave a bright smile that only looked brighter under shadows and the sunlight scattered by the leaves and branches above.

“Hinata-kun, hello! What are you doing?”

“I...” Hinata’s mouth went dry as it always did, heart beating just a little faster. Somehow, he swallowed and managed to answer. “I’m taking a walk. I mean, out on a walk. Just...around.”

“Just around,” Komaeda echoes, those gray-greens twinkling with amusement. “Well, yes, you reserve students typically are just _around_.”

Hinata grimaced.

This is just what he’s learned to expect.

“What are _you_ doing, Komaeda?”

Komaeda simply smiled innocently as always, smoothing out the blanket across the grass.

“Having a picnic,” he said, gesturing to it as well as the bento he had carefully set aside. “Isn’t that much obvious, Hinata-kun?”

Hinata didn’t answer that.

Komaeda giggled and patted the vacant spot beside him.

“If you’re just hanging around,” he said. “You can feel free to join me. Just because it’s you, Hinata-kun.”

 _Just because it’s you._ Words like that would bounce around and reverberate so often in his head that it’d leave his ears ringing. He really, _really_ was unbelievably weak in how _easy_ a guy he was.

“Sure...thing.”

All the same, he seated himself, shifting awkwardly on Komaeda’s blanket. It’s a nice blanket. Far nicer quality than the one in his own dorm room. He wonders if it came from Komaeda’s own dorm, or if Komaeda brought it with him from his old house.

Or maybe Komaeda had it ordered and shipped overseas. Honestly, it could be any number of things.

“Did you already eat, Hinata-kun?”

Hinata shook his head.

“No, I...usually eat in the dining hall with the other reserves.” And usually, it wasn’t much, especially when he was anxious enough. He had been more than anxious enough for a while now. “I’m fine, though. I don’t have much of an appetite.”

“Oh, Hinata-kun...” Komaeda clicked his tongue in disapproval. “That’s no good! Food is very important for the growing young man!”

“You sound almost like a parent.”

“Ehhh? Do I?” Komaeda looked almost amazed at the thought before dropping it in favor of his earlier scolding. “But it’s true! There’s not much hope in stunted growth!”

“Not much hope, huh...”

_As if there’s hope to even be found in the reserve course._

“You should eat, Hinata-kun! It’s healthy and good for you!”

“I guess...” Hinata’s gaze swept down, at the lithe figure that the HPA uniform didn’t obscure nearly as well as it should have. “But I don’t feel comfortable taking your food, Komaeda.”

Komaeda frowned.

“I could always get more at the cafeteria, or from Hanamura-kun in my class.”

_Aah, right, one of his classmates is the SHSL Cook..._

“Are you sure you _will_ do that, Komaeda?” he asked, smile straining a bit. “It’s not a problem, right?”

“...Now Hinata-kun sounds like an overbearing parent.”

_Oi, did you have to add the word overbearing in front of it?_

Hinata just sighed.

“Look I get...anxious...” He ran his fingers through his hair. “You know that already, Komaeda.”

“Mm...” Komaeda hummed and then pushed his bento towards him. “I suppose... Here, Hinata-kun. Have my rice, then. I don’t much like rice. I tried to mix butter in it with some salt...but I might’ve added sugar by accident again...”

On a brighter note, Komaeda had brought an extra pair of chopsticks as well. Hinata broke them apart and took a bite out of the rice.

Unsurprisingly, it tasted...very...funny. Very, _very_ funny.

Funny, but it wasn’t going to make him sick. And he was hungry. Not to mention it was _Komaeda’s_ food.

“Thank you for the meal, Komaeda.”

“It’s not much of a meal, but you’re welcome, Hinata-kun!”

Yeah, he could manage just fine.

With a peaceful atmosphere like this, with the calm air all around, especially around Komaeda... It really was rather nice. Rather pleasant.

_Like this, we’re almost enjoying each other’s company like a couple._

A couple.

Hinata swallowed another bite of funny rice.

“Oh, I also got some fruit,” Komaeda went on. “I’m not much for sweets, but these were actually grown by the SHSL Botanist... So, I’m really excited to try them...!”

“What kind?” Hinata asked. His throat went dry when Komaeda pulled one out with a bright smile.

“Peaches! Among some others,” he giggled and presented the peach with pride. “Isn’t it big and round and such a pretty shade of pink?”

_Just like your derrière..._

Hinata stared, tried not to recall getting an eyeful in the shower, and hurriedly nodded.

“Y... Yeah... That’s...one impressive peach...”

“Do you want one?”

“U-Uh...” He flinched with a blush. Shakily, he nodded before taking it. “Yeah, yeah...”

_A couple..._

They definitely had a weird relationship. Even Hinata himself didn’t quite understand it, but... Dating was the best way to put it. They weren’t exactly friends, but they certainly weren’t mere acquaintances.

_Dating...is the best way to put it._

The taste of the peach was so good it had his eyes watering, and, sure enough, Komaeda was already in tears.

“I-It’s so...hopeful...!” he sobbed, breath hitching as he dabbed oh so daintily at his eyes with a handkerchief. Hinata snorted, a fond smile finding its way across his lips. “It’s the fruit of such hopeful talent!”

“Isn’t the phrase actually _fruits of labor_?” Hinata asked, just a little exasperated. Komaeda sniffled, blew his nose, and nodded furiously.

“It’s more than just that, though, Hinata-kun!”

_Just...that... Right._

Hinata licked up the juices from his fingers, palm, wrist, and sucked it from his sleeve.

Komaeda wiped off his fingers carefully but finished up the peach, setting the pit in his bento. Hinata soon after did the same.

_Just like that..._

“Hey, Komaeda... If we kissed right now, how sweet do you think the kiss would be?” he asked. There was a bit of casualness to it, and his lips twisted, just a bit, at the corner. “Would it even _be_ sweet?”

“What a strange question,” Komaeda said. Still, he smiled easily in return. “Perhaps we should see for ourselves, Hinata-kun.”

“Perhaps,” he echoed. When Komaeda beckoned him closer, he couldn’t help but obey, leaning in.

Komaeda’s lips were smoothed from chapstick, but not terribly soft. Just...a mouth. This wasn’t television or anything, it just was what it was.

Komaeda shivered against him as his tongue flickered out.

_I was right. It’s sweeter._

Slowly, almost deliberately he reached out to run his fingertips along Komaeda’s jaw. He tucked a few strands of ivory white behind Komaeda’s ear, digits tracing the shell like so.

“Mmm...”

His fingers thread through Komaeda’s hair. Komaeda shifts against him, and their kiss deepens.

_It’s really, really sweet._

“Hah... Pwah...” Komaeda’s cheeks are flushed so adorably as they part. “Hm... Hinata-kun... For a reserve... You really kiss by the book...”

“Haha,” Hinata exhaled. “Thanks. Means a lot.”

He kissed him a second time, then a third, a fourth, a fifth...

And again, he’s holding Komaeda closer than any other reserve would dare to even dream of with a main course student.

“...Hinata-kun...” Komaeda pants, their faces and bodies so very flushed together. “You’re really impertinent today.”

_Impertinent, huh._

Hinata kissed him again, tongue flickering out. Komaeda shivered, breathless as they parted.

“You had an exam today, right?” he asked, sighing and brushing Hinata’s hair back, Hinata stiffening under his words and touch. “Aha, just a guess, just a guess...”

“A lucky guess,” Hinata muttered and pulled back with a tired smile. “Or maybe you just somehow knew.”

“Think what you will,” Komaeda said ever cheerily. “You haven’t been getting much sleep, have you, Hinata-kun?”

Humming, he cupped Hinata’s cheek, thumb tracing the shadow underneath his eye.

“Sleep is very important for the growing young man.” Komaeda clicked his tongue. “I swear, I shouldn’t have to worry this much about you. You’re really lucky that I like you so much, Hinata-kun.”

_Lucky..._

“Lucky,” Hinata echoed. “Yeah, I still can’t believe it sometimes.”

_But I’m grateful for it all the same._

“I-It’s just because I happened to get used to your company, Hinata-kun!” Komaeda exclaimed hurriedly. “It’s not because you’re special or anything like that!”

“Yeah,” Hinata said. “I know.”

Komaeda flustered adorably and pulled back to fiddle with his fingers.

Hinata sat back, gaze flickering towards the shimmering sunlight, caught between the leaves.

_Carefree moments like this are what I look the most forward to._

And that was _strange_ , wasn’t it? He had all these grand ideas about what would happen once he stepped through the gates of Hope’s Peak and—if not for Komaeda, he wonders if he would even still be here.

_I’m just a talentless nobody otherwise, after all._

There had been rumors in the reserve course that it was possible to change that—that HPA was developing a way to create talent where there was none. Such rumors were clearly nothing more than wishful thinking. Even though Hinata, too, found such an idea to be... _unbelievably_ enticing.

But rumors were just rumors, so all he could do was muster enough energy to make it through the days.

And it was difficult. In the oppressive atmosphere of the reserve course—it was downright impossible to relax. But with Komaeda...

_Komaeda...has a very calming air. I wonder if I would have fallen for him under insignificant circumstances. I’d...like to think that I would._

“Ah,” Komaeda said, brushing his hair back as the wind ruffled it. “The breeze feels really nice.”

Hinata nodded along to that. “Yeah, it does.”

_I wonder how much longer we have together._

“Maybe I should have picnics more often,” Komaeda hums, smoothing out the creases in the blanket. “You’re free to join me, Hinata-kun. Just because I like you and feel a bit sorry for you. No other reason at all!”

“I wouldn’t mind that,” Hinata said. “I really like spending time with you either way.”

“Is that because you can continue practice your kissing skills?” Komaeda asked cheerily with pink cheeks.

“...something like that...”

Hinata scooted further, and then, laid his head on Komaeda’s shoulder. Komaeda stiffened, breath catching. Almost, Hinata could hear the other’s quickening heartbeat.

Or maybe that was wishful thinking.

“H-Hinata-kun?!”

Still, that was definitely a stammer.

_Komaeda really is unbearably cute sometimes._

“Um, H... Hinata-kun...”

_Aah, so cute..._

“Kissing is nice,” he said. “But... I just like spending time with you because I like you, Komaeda.”

Komaeda didn’t say anything, but... Hinata wondered what face he was making. Was he blushing? Gawking? Eyes sparkling? He’s very tempted to turn so that he can see, but he’s also very content to remain where he is.

“I guess...” Komaeda trails off, wheezing a little. “For a reserve, Hinata-kun’s company is not...too disagreeable.”

Hinata’s smile twisted.

_You say stuff like that, but you’re comfortable too, aren’t you, Komaeda?_

Komaeda was leaning against in return.

_Yeah, that’s what I thought._

Hinata reached out and squeezed Komaeda’s hand.

“You know,” Komaeda mumbled. “I’m going to have to pull away and put up the blanket eventually. If I’m not in the classroom, sensei will scold me. And nobody likes it when I cause trouble.”

“Yeah, I know.”

_We can’t remain like this forever. Under shadow and scattered sunlight. Close like this._

Eventually, Hinata will have to return to that dark oppressive classroom of his. He dreads it, but, it is...inevitable.

_If I can’t follow Komaeda, I’d like to keep him here, us remaining like this._

But that, of course, was impossible.

_Despairing._

“...I suppose I can stay a while longer, though,” Komaeda said softly, smiling a little. “But don’t expect this too often, Hinata-kun. It’s just a whim of mine. Just a whim.”

Hinata nodded along.

“...Thanks, Komaeda.”

_For now, this is enough to manage._


End file.
